Door construction and method of making the same



Oct. 26, 1954 w TERNES 2,692,664

DOOR CONSTRUCTION AND METHOD OF MAKING THE SAME Filed March 15, 1948 2 Sheets-Sheet l Oct. 26, 1954 w. A. TERNES 2,692,664

DOOR CONSTRUCTION AND METHOD OF MAKING THE SAME Filed March 15, 1948 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 I N VEN TOR. wf'iiz'a 771 /7 &7'7786',

Patented Oct. 26, 1954 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE DOOR CONSTRUCTION AND METHOD OF MAKING THE SAME 8 Claims.

This invention relates generally to metal fabricated constructions and more especially to metal doors and methods of making the same.

An object of this invention is to provide a new metal door construction which is economical to manufacture and will give a pleasing appearance.

A further object of this invention is to provide such a metal door construction of the flush type and which presents a smooth planar appearance.

A still further object of this invention is to provide such a flush-type metal door in which the face panels are stretched into shape whereby they will be held in a smooth condition.

A still further object of this invention is to provide an improved method of assembling fabrisated structures such as doors and which may be characterized in that the assembly procedure serves to leave the face panels in a stretched, and :onsequently, smooth, condition.

Other objects of the invention will become apparent from the following specification, the drawings relating thereto, and the claims hereinafter set forth.

Many types of sheet metal door constructions have been made and suggested. However, all of these types have been subject to the objection that the large sheet metal panel which forms the face of the door tends to be wavy and therefore presents an undesired appearance. I have found that by constructing a door comprising generally two side panels, two side supporting rails, and two end rails and having face panels carried by the side rail and stretched therebetween that all of the waviness or other irregularity will be eliminated and such a construction is economical of manufacture.

In the drawings in which like numerals are used to designate like parts in the several views throughout,

Figure 1 is a view in perspective of a door embodying the invention;

Fig. 2 is an end view of the door of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged view of the portion of the door of Fig. 2 within the circle A;

Fig. 4 is an exploded view of the door showing the component elements;

Fig. 5 is a view of a partially assembled door; and

Fig. 6 is a diagrammatic view of the forces imparted to the face panels of the door wherein the length of the arrowed lines indicates the tension of the face panel and the longitudinal positions of the arrowed lines along the center line indicate the relative locations of tension on the face panels.

Referring now to the drawings by characters of reference, the numeral I indicates generally a flush-type door made in accordance with this invention comprising a pair of side supporting rails or stiles 2 and 4. The stiles 2 and 4 are substantially identical in general construction in that they comprise a U-shaped channel having outwardly extending substantially parallel side members 6 and 8 which adjacent their outward free ends are offset inwardly as at III to form notched or recessed portions and the extreme end portions I2 are rebent backwardly into the notched or recessed portions Ill. The face panels l4 and iii are also substantially identical and are substantially rectangular in shape and along their longitudinal edges are provided with rebent portions l8 which are adapted to extend in the channel I 9 formed by the rebent portions [2. The recessed portion 10 of the stiles or side bars 2 and 4 are each of suflicient depth so that when the face panels 14 and I6 are inserted as described the outer surface thereof will lie respectively in the planes of the U-shaped extending arms 6 and 8 to provide a substantially flat planar face for the door I.

Lateral stiffeners 20, 22, and 24 are provided to space the stiles 2 and 4 from each other a pre determined distance in order to properly hold the panels I 4 and I6 under tension as will be described below. The stiffeners 2D and 24 are substantially identical, one being located at one end of the door and the other located at the other end of the door with the stiifener 22 being located substantially midway between the stiffeners 20 and 24. The stiifeners 20 and 24 are of U-shaped channel construction having cut awayportions 2B and 28 on opposite faces thereof whereby the stiffeners may be received within the stiles 2 and 4 at either end of the door. The center stiffener 22 is also provided with similar recesses 30 whereby it may be inserted at the ends of the stiles 2 and 4 and be longitudinally moved therealong to a substantial central position. As shown, the stiffener 22 is provided with an enlarged portion 3i adjacent at one end but spaced inwardly from the notches 30 and which is adapted when the door is fabricated to receive a latch member (not shown) for the door which may be inserted thereinto through an aligning aperture 32 in the stile 4.

The stiles 2 and 4 are suitably fabricated as by a strip rolling process into substantially the contour shown in the drawings as are also the panels [4 and I6. The stile 2 may have recessed portions 33 for receiving hinges (not shown).

In th broader aspects of the invention, the

above described structure can be assembled in various ways so as to produce the characteristic stretched condition of the face panels [4 and [6. An assembly which is presently preferred i as follows. The panels l4 and iii are assembled to the stiles 2 and 4 by longitudinally sliding the stiles 2 and 4 between adjacent edges of the panels I4 and 16 whereby the rebent portions interlock substantially as shown. The assembly thus far produced is then placed in an oven or heated by other suitable means to a desired temperature at which time the parts will have expanded due to the coefficient of expansion of the metal parts. The partial assembly is then taken in its heated condition and the stiffeners or stretcher members 2U, 22, and 24, are inserted endwise of the subassembly, the stiffener 22 being inserted to a substantially midway portion in which the enlarged portion 3| thereof is in alignment with the aperture 32 in the stile 4 and the end stiffeners and 24 are inserted to close the ends of the door. If sound deadening sheets 34 and 36 are to be used, they will be inserted after the stiffener 22 and before the stiifeners 20 and 24 are inserted.

The stiffeners 20, 22, and 24 are preferably maintained at a temperature relatively low with respect to that of the heated subassembly comprising th stiles 2 and 4 and the face panels I4 and 16 whereby a substantial tension or stretching force will be applied to th face panels M and i6 when the panels M and I6 and stiffeners 20, 22, and 2 assume the same temperature. The length of the stiifeners 2E), 22, and 24 is Preferably maintained as nearly as possible to the dimension between the stiles 2 and 4 with the panels 14 and I6 in their heated condition.

With the stiffeners so inserted, the assembled door is now allowed to cool during which time the side panels M and [6 due to their coefficient of contraction with chang in temperature will shrink thereby holding the stiles 2 and 4 tightly against the stiffeners or stretchers 20, 22, and 24. Since the distance between the stiles 2 and 4 is maintained substantially constant, they will not move closer together and therefore the contraction due to reduction in temperature of the panels i l and 16 will react as a stretching of the panels I4 and i6 which stretching will'tend to cause them to assume a planar condition between the stiles 2 and 4 thereby eliminating any waviness or other irregularity which might be present in the initial panels M and IS. The result is an extremely smooth and flat door.

The foregoing process is particularly adapted for the manufacture of aluminum doors or at least doors having aluminum panels l4 and [6 since aluminum has a relatively high rate of coefficient of expansion with increase in temperature and which therefore needs to be heated only to a relatively small temperature degree above normal room temperature for example, 300. The invention, however, is not limited to the use of aluminum panels since steel panels may also be used but in such event they may be heated to substantially 900 F. The aluminum construction when heated is not too hot for the workmen to handle with gloves and any accidental touching of the panels by the workmen will not result in such a severe burn as might occur were the steel used.

While the foregoing method of assembly represents the preferred manner of executing the invention, it will be understood that, generically, the stretching might be obtained by other means such as clamping the stiles 2 and 4 in a hydraulic stretching mechanism and applying a very high separating force therebetween to stretch the door panels into planar form and at which time the stretchers or stiifeners 20, 22, and 24 could be inserted. If such a system is used, it would be necessary to very accurately maintain the length of these stiffeners so that substantially no inward movement of the stiles 2 and 4 would occur when the force of the stretching mechanism was released and still the dimension of these stretchers 2Q, 22, and 24 must be sufficiently short so that they may be inserted between the stiles 2 and i. The force imparted to the panels [4 and 16 must not stretch them beyond their elastic limit. Further, and in a generic sense, the stiles and stretchers may be initially assembled together and thereafter the panels may be interfitted with the stiles.

What is claimed and is desired to be secured by United States Letters Patent is as follows:

In a metal door Or like structure, a pair of side bars having attaching means, a pair of face panels having attaching means cooperabl with said first-named attaching means for securing the side panels to said side bars, and stretcher members interconnecting said side bars and acting to hold said side bars spaced apart a greater distance than the unstressed widths of the face panels whereby said face panels are held under tension.

2. A metal door or like structur comprising a pair of U-shap-ed channels having parallelly extending side faces, the free edges of one of said faces of each channel being rebent about its respective face, a flat sheet metal panel having longitudinally extending side edge portions, said side edge portions being rebent about said panel, said panel rebent portions being interlocked in one instance with a rebent portion of one of said channels and in a second instance with a rebent portion of a second of said channels, and transverse stretchers interconnecting said channels, said stretchers spacing said channels a greater distance than the unstressed width of said panel whereby said panel is held in a state of tension.

3. The method of assembling structures, such as doors, comprising a pair of spaced apart face panels and stretcher means positioned between the panels and connected thereto along laterally opposite edge portions of the panels, the normal free spacing of such portions being less than the corresponding free dimension of said stretcher means, which includes the steps of applying force to elongate the panels elastically to temporarily bring said spacing and said dimension into substantial conformity with each other, maintaining said panels in elongated condition by connecting said face panels and said stretcher means to each other, and thereafter relieving said force whereby said spacing and dimension tend to resume their free values and said face panels are consequently held in a stretched condition by said stretcher means.

4. The method of claim 3 wherein said force is applied to said face panels to temporarily widen them into conformity with said dimension.

5. The method of claim 4 wherein said application of force comprises heating said face panels.

6. The method of assembling doors of the type in which side supporting members are interconnected by a pair of face panels and in which said side members are held in fixed position with respect to each other by a pair of Stretcher members comprising the step of assembling the side members to the face panels, of heating the assembled face panels to an elevated temperature, of inserting the stretcher members in a normal temperature condition and of allowing the assembly to cool whereby the contraction imparted to the face panels due to a reduction in temperature thereof acts to apply tension to the panels whereby they are held under tension.

7. The combination of claim 6 in which said. panel is actually stretched upon cooling.

8. In a panel door structure, spaced side members, spacers operatively connected to the side members to maintain their spacing, a metal panel 10 state of substantial elongation and tension between said sid members so that the spacing between said means is substantially increased over said predetermined width to permit securing of the panel to the members.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 809,145 Sjobring Jan. 2, 1906 847,443 Sjobring Mar. 19, 1907 1,574,493 Leonard Feb, 23, 1926 1,898,417 Woehler Feb. 21, 1933 2,322,700 Mussey June 22, 1943 

